Comic review: ‘All Star Superman’ No. 12 is a wonderful wrap to the Morrison/Quitely run

That Grant Morrison sure can tap into the essence of his heroes. Be it the dark, trippy stuff going on in his brilliant but lately confounding run on “Batman” or his sci-fi classicist take on the Man of Steel in “All Star Superman,” Morrison dares crystallize the hero’s soul and subconscious with all its divergences, all the while tipping so many hats to that hero’s storied lineage. And for the most part, it works.

In the case of “All Star Superman” No. 12, we say farewell to a Superman that amazingly enough transcends his iconography — a delightful, didactic, challenging vision as only Morrison could muster.

Morrison and artist Frank Quitely’s award-winning run wraps pretty much the way it began — with a Superman so great he’s in essence too big a hero, too big an ideal, for this world. “Superman in Excelsis” is a fitting title for this last chapter — it’s difficult to imagine a Superman as ascendant yet still as accessible as Morrison’s.

Naturally, Superman’s ascension requires facing a grand obstacle, in this case a super-powered Lex Luthor with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Their battle is hardly one for the ages, but it resonates just the same thanks to Quitely’s delicately detailed pencils and Jamie Grant’s sunny digital inks and colors. And without spoiling too much, “All Star Superman” No. 12 does make for an open-ended bookend.

It’s easy to see why “All Star Superman” won Eisners for Best New Series and Best Continuing Series. This Superman has more than lived up to the “All Star” label as an icon that’s timeless as well as timely, quintessential as well as just a bit quirky. Sure, the book’s Technicolor visuals help, but big thanks go to Grant Morrison for opening such a colorful window into the head and heart of the most recognized superhero in all of comics.